And It All Seemed So Simple
by Nitsirk the Witch
Summary: Harry and Co. return to Hogwarts for their 6th year only to find that things definately are only getting weirder. HHr and others. readreview please!


Disclaimer: I only own what's mine. Everything else belongs to other people.

A/N: Alright, this story takes place after the fifth book, but isn't going to fit with the sixth one very well probably so I'm going to try to get it done before that one comes out. The main pairing is going to be Harry and Hermione, but a few more will appear. Anyway, enjoy!

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And It All Seemed So Simple

Chapter 1

It Begins

It was a sweltering hot evening at the end of July, just as it had been exactly the year before. However, this year, Harry Potter wasn't outside. On the contrary, he was sitting inside the living room of 4 Privet Drive watching the news as the air conditioning came on. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, Harry's aunt and uncle had taken Dudley to the doctor after he had gotten sick an hour before. Immediately, they had assumed that he had somehow contracted some undiagnosed, potentially deadly disease. Of course Harry knew that Dudley had just gotten sick because he'd been eating way too much, but of course they didn't realize this. And so they left, completely forgetting that Harry was even there. Well, technically he wasn't supposed to be there. This was the day he was going to go visit Ms. Figg, who, a year before, he had discovered to be a squib. However, Ms. Figg had had to cancel since one of her cats ate a sock and had to go to the vet. Harry didn't mind, really. He had wanted to watch the news for weeks. He hadn't had a chance lately, and letters from Ron and Hermione had been sparse so far. Amazingly, though, there hadn't actually been anything on the news yet. Well, after all, the Deatheaters were all in Azkaban, even though the Dementors had joined Voldemort. Despite this, Harry just knew that something was going to happen.

Suddenly, the words "Breaking News" appeared on the screen.

"We have just received word that a serial killer is on the loose in England. Twenty people were killed in the last 12 hours, in a fifteen-mile radius. So far there are no leads, but an anonymous source says that there are more than one of these criminals. Everyone, there is no need to panic-" Harry was shocked. He had thought that something was going to happen, but nothing like this. It appeared that Voldemort was back. But weren't his minions still in Azkaban?

Earlier that evening, Draco Malfoy was sitting in his mansion while his mother gossiped with a few of her friends who were over for tea. He had no idea what they were talking about, and frankly he didn't care. Earlier in the summer he had been trying to plot ways to get back at Harry Potter, the little git who had put his father in Azkaban. However, now he was getting used to his father not being there so he only plotted about once a week. Everyone in the house seemed more relaxed without Lucius there. The few house elves and other staff members had begun to do their work without scurrying out of a room whenever a door opened, or jumping at the slightest sound. Some of the braver ones even hummed (off-key, unfortunately). Now that Narcissa was in control, the house just seemed cheerier. She had flowers brought in, redid the entire decorating scheme, and always had the windows open to let in the fresh air.

Narcissa herself went through a change as well. She became a social butterfly, inviting over tons of friends every day for tea. She'd thrown a few parties as well: huge galas with so many people Draco just knew that they couldn't all be pure bloods. What would his father say if he knew? Well, luckily, Draco hadn't found that out yet. At first his mother's behavior had angered him. How could she be throwing these huge parties while his father was rotting in Azkaban?

Then, however, Draco began to feel differently. Even though he would never admit it, he was beginning to actually like it this way. When the servants weren't scared out of their wits, they did more nice things for the family. For example, the new house elf, Topple, had been so scared of Lucius that he had only cooked amazingly bland, boring meals, such as meat loaf, liver, and dragon ribs. Now, however, every meal was cooked to perfection and always was up to Narcissa's standards for healthiness. Draco had no problems with the meals his dad had requested, but it was nice to have a change of flavoring occasionally. Another thing Topple did, with the help of Lollie, another house elf, was to bake tons of sweets: cookies, cakes, brownies, fudge, candy, and much more. Draco's father had despised such things, and lately had banned them from the house.

On this particular day, Draco was sitting in the drawing room skimming through the _Daily Prophet. _There hadn't been anything lately about attacks, the Dark Lord, or even Potter in the paper. It mentioned Dumbledore, and Fudge had almost a whole page to himself. Also, that Percy Weasley had another article about how You-Know-Who was indeed back and how the Ministry of Magic was sure to catch him any day now. However, Draco could gleam from what had been said that the Deatheaters weren't talking. Suddenly, a chill ran down Draco's back, and the whole house seemed to go dark. The only sound came from the living room where Narcissa and her friends were, and even they seemed to be affected a little. Draco moved cautiously into the front hall just as the door opened revealing his father. And he didn't look happy with the changes.

Ron Weasley threw down the Daily Prophet in disgust. Percy was such a prat! Even though there was now proof that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been right in following Dumbledore, he was still refusing to talk to them. He said that they should have backed Fudge. After all, he was the Minister of Magic! Ron couldn't believe his brother was so thick headed. Their own father had been attacked, and he hadn't stopped his ridiculing of Dumbledore, but the second Fudge declared You Know Who back, Percy believed it. But he didn't even apologize for his stubborn rude attitude. Mrs. Weasley was in danger of having a nervous breakdown.

Just then, Pig flew in with the _Evening Prophet_. Ron gave the over excited owl a little food and opened the paper. What he saw on the paper stunned him.

"Is that the paper?" Ginny asked curiously as she entered the room. Ron didn't say anything, so Ginny grabbed the paper and gasped at what she saw.

"Mom!" she yelled. "Fred! George!" Immediately the three aforementioned Weasleys came in. Fred and George had Apparated, of course.

"What is it dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked. Ginny handed her the paper.

"Oh my!" Mrs. Weasley declared, lost for words. She handed the paper to the twins.

"_Deatheaters Escape from Azkaban,"_ Fred read.

"_19 Muggles and a Wizard Killed in Argyllshire Area_?" George exclaimed.

"It's started," Mr. Weasley said cryptically as he walked in. "I see you've got the paper."

"Arthur, what's going on?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Yeah dad," Fred said.

"What happened?" George inquired.

"Tell us!" Ginny pleaded.

"Did they really escape?" Ron asked.

"I'm trying to tell you!" Arthur declared. "It appears that the Deatheaters in Azkaban escaped with the aid of one of their cohorts who wasn't in there with them around 7 am this morning. Then they embarked on a killing spree around Argyllshire, finally killing Old Edgar Loggins. Then they disappeared." Everyone fell silent.

I bet Lucius just went home, Ron thought. Then, aloud he said, "Probably Malfoy got them out. He's always trying to be just like his dad!"

"I doubt it," Ginny said. Everyone looked at her in surprise. "I ran into Mrs. Malfoy when Dean took me out to eat in Diagon Alley for lunch today. She mentioned how she was redecorating the house and invited you over for tea on next Thursday. I guess that's not going to happen though, huh?"

"Narcissa Malfoy invited us?" Mrs. Weasley asked in shock.

"Yea. According to Dean, who was talking to one of the guys in Ravenclaw, she's been inviting a lot of people over," Ginny said.

"Father?" Draco asked as Lucius stormed in the house. Lucius looked around at the bright surroundings.

"Where's your mother?" he growled. Draco didn't answer right away. He'd never seen his father this mad. However, his delay just angered Lucius more. He stormed towards Draco.

"Well, we'll be seeing you-" one of Narcissa's friends said as they all walked out of the living room. However, they all stopped dead when they saw Lucius. He glowered at Draco for another second then turned to the group of terrified gossips.

"Tell one person that I came here," he said in a deadly voice. "And I will kill you and you families." The women nodded but stood still otherwise. "Now get **out**!" They scurried away. After they had left, Lucius turned towards his wife.

"L-Lucius-" Narcissa began, fear evident in her voice. Lucius strode over to her in one movement, and shoved her into the wall.

"**_What did you do to my house_**!" he yelled. His wife just whimpered in response. "Draco, get out!" he yelled. Draco was too stunned to move. "NOW!" Lucius boomed. Draco virtually ran to his room. As soon as he'd closed the door, he tried to piece this together. He'd seen his father mad before, he'd seen his parents argue, but he had never, EVER seen his father physically harm his mother. He could hear him yelling three floors up, and he could also hear glass shattering. Draco looked at the calendar in his room. Well, he had about a month till Hogwarts, and for some reason he didn't think it was going to be the happiest one in his life.

Harry Potter was now in his room. The Dursleys had returned about five minutes before, and they hadn't been happy. The doctor had delicately told them that Dudley was indeed eating too much, and that hadn't sat very well with Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. Harry decided it was best to leave before he made any comment.

"You have a telephone call!" Vernon called up. "It's that girl from the library." This meant that it was Hermione. Somehow, Harry's uncle still hadn't figured out that the "girl from the library" and the girl who Harry had walked out of the barrier-separating Platform 9 ¾ from the rest of the station were one and the same. Of course, Harry wasn't complaining. He rushed downstairs and took the phone from the kitchen.

"Hello?" he said.

"Harry! Have you heard?" Hermione said.

"About the twenty people who were killed around Argyllshire? Yea, it was on the news," Harry said unhappily.

"Harry, it's not just that," Hermione said. She paused for a second.

"Hermione, what happened?" Harry asked in alarm.

"The Deatheaters escaped from Azkaban," Hermione declared. "Ginny just called and told me." Ginny was the only Weasley that had really mastered the art of using the telephone. Considering she was going out with Dean, who was Muggle-born, she found it easier to talk to him on the phone rather than owling all the time. She did owl him, but not as much as she would have had they not installed a phone.

"They did?" Harry asked.

"Yes. Oh, Harry, we knew that they weren't going to stay in there forever, but for this to happen two days before your birthday is just horrible!" Hermione stated. It was then that Harry realized that the day after tomorrow was indeed his birthday. He'd completely forgotten about it with everything else going on. Then something struck Harry.

"Hermione, why aren't you and Ron and everyone else all together?" he asked.

"Well, Professor Dumbledore thought that it would be better if we all weren't in one place. He said that it would be too easy for them to get everyone, so just a few meet occasionally," she explained.

"So you don't think that I'll be able to come, do you?" Harry asked, crestfallen. He expected Hermione to give him the usual lecture about how it was for his safety, and how they were just looking out for him. Imagine his surprise when that wasn't what she said.

"Actually Harry, I wrote Professor Dumbledore and asked him if maybe you and Ron could come stay with me. I mean, almost everyone knows where Ron lives, but hardly anyone knows where my house is. I should be getting a reply soon. I owled him yesterday. Oh!" Hermione exclaimed. "It's here! Hold on for a second Harry!" Harry held his breath as Hermione paused to read it. He really hoped that he could go. He was getting sick of the Dursleys.

"Oh! He said you shouldn't come!" Hermione said. Harry sighed. Well, it's what he had expected. "Wait! He's reserved rooms for the Weasleys and us at the new hotel in Diagon Alley! And he's asked the ministry to send some cars to pick us up around 10 am tomorrow," Hermione read gleefully. Harry's spirits soared.

"This is great. See ya then," Harry said and hung up. He hurried down stairs to where the Dursleys were sitting in the kitchen.

"What did your little friend want?" Aunt Petunia asked suspiciously.

"I'm leaving tomorrow with some of my friends for the rest of the summer," Harry said simply. Uncle Vernon muttered something akin to "good riddance". Harry assumed that this meant he could go, so he packed his stuff and went to bed.

The next morning, Harry lugged his trunk downstairs. He was going to get to see his friends again finally. Things were definitely looking up. He glanced at the clock. It was already 9:30.

"So," Uncle Vernon said as he entered the kitchen. "You're finally leaving." Harry nodded and went outside. He didn't want to deal with his uncle right then. However, as soon as he'd sat down on the front porch, Dudley followed him.

"Good thing you're leaving too. I can't sleep with the racket you're making!" he said cruelly.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"SIRIUS! SIRIUS! NOOOOOOOO!" Dudley said, mimicking Harry. "And I thought that Cedric was the one who- " However, he stopped talking as he saw the two new, nice-looking cars pull up. Hermione got out.

"Hi Harry!" she yelled. "Isn't this great?" She ran onto the porch.

"Yeah, it is. This is my cousin Dudley," Harry said. Hermione glanced at Dudley, who, to Harry's utter astonishment, blushed and made up an excuse to go back inside.

"Harry, he can't be as bad as you say," Hermione chided. Harry just shook his head. Then he smiled.

"He fancies you," Harry said, trying to stifle his laughter. Hermione was in shock.

"What!" she gasped.

"Are you two just going to stand there chit-chatting or are you going to get in the car?" Ron asked impatiently.

"We're coming!" Harry and Hermione yelled.

"I have to get my stuff," Harry said.

"I'll help," Hermione offered. They went inside just as Aunt Petunia came down the stairs. Hermione smiled.

"Hello Mrs. Dursley," she said. Aunt Petunia nodded curtly and went into the kitchen. Hermione turned to Harry. "Harry, I know you don't want to talk about what happened last year, but I think you need to." Harry sighed. He should have known that she'd bring it up.

"Hermione-" Harry began.

"Look, I'm not going to say that I know what you're going through, because I don't. He was the closest thing to a father you've ever know. However, even though you don't want to talk about it, if you keep it inside it'll just get worse," Hermione said. Harry could see where this was going however.

"I just can't talk about it," Harry protested.

"Harry, if you keep inside it _will_ only get worse. I mean, you shouldn't keep the grief bottled up," Hermione said. She sighed and picked up Hedwig's cage. "We'd better go back out there." Harry nodded, and picking up his trunk and broom, he followed her outside.

"What took you so long?" Ron asked after they got in one of the cars. Harry had put his stuff in the car's trunk along with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny's.

"Have any of you ever been to this place?" Ginny asked. They all shook their heads.

"Ginny's mad because Mom wouldn't let her invite Dean," Ron explained.

"I just wanted him to come with us today!" Ginny declared.

"So how's your summer been?" Harry asked Ron.

"Lousy. Percy's still being a git, even though he can plainly see that you and Dumbledore were right," Ron said.

"Mom tried to invite him to come with us today, but he said that he has too many important things to do. Fred and George said they might come later but right now they've got too much to do, what with the success of their joke shop. Zonko's has been trying to get them to sell their products there, but they're saying no right now."

"Hey we stopped!" Hermione said, opening her door. "Looks like we're here." Everyone got out and unloaded their stuff. They walked through the Leaky Cauldron and into Diagon Alley, where they quickly spotted the Palace Hotel. It was one of the largest buildings there, and it looked a lot more pristine.

"Doesn't fit in does it?" Ron asked as they reached the hotel. Harry and Hermione shook their heads.

"Well, we'd better be getting inside. I've gotta talk to the manager, if he's around. Make sure that Dumbledore worked everything out." Mr. Weasley stated as he got out of the limo.

"I hope everything's ok," Hermione said.

"Of course it'll be ok!" Ron declared. He was wrong however, because it just so happened that Mr. Weasley came back looking most unhappy.

"Bad news, I'm afraid. It appears that since they're still renovating, we're going to have to split up." He told them where their rooms were, and they headed inside. The inner part of the building was just as pristine as the outer part. The lobby looked like the average hotel lobby.

"This looks just like these pictures my cousin sent me of the lobby of the Great Wolf Lodge in the US," Hermione said. As none of the others had heard of that place, no one made a comment. That is, except the manager.

"I'm afraid that The Palace far transcends the prowess of any Muggle establishment," he said unctuously. The Weasleys and Co. turned towards him. He smiled in a false manner and looked at them superiorly.

"My name is Mr. P.B. Stryker and I am the manager of this glorious establishment. The owner is, unfortunately, not present today, but I'm sure that if he had know that such a prestigious person as _Harry Potter_ was going to become his guest he would have at least put in an appearance. Now, I have split you up into rooms based upon the instructions of Headmaster Dumbledore. Mr. And Mrs. Weasley will be in room 408. That is on the fourth floor and to the left. Fredrick and George Weasley will be in room 129. Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter will be in room 705 and Hermione Granger and Ginevra Weasley will be in room 714, which is across from 705. The numbers got slightly messed up during the construction. You can take those lifts over there to get to your rooms. They're labeled by floor."

The group headed off to get their stuff into their rooms. Harry suddenly felt a feeling of foreboding as he walked away from Mr. Stryker. He shook it off though, as Ron began grumbling about Percy again.

TBC

A/N: Well, there's chapter one. I realize that Narcissa and Draco were a little out of character, but-- for Draco at least-- this will be change in later chapters. Also coming: someone's sent to keep an eye on Fudge, the mystery as to why the numbers are out of order is explained, and many things that were obvious before are proved to be thoroughly untrue. Please review and continue to read as well.


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